Former Somali deputy prime minister offers ideas to fix transitional process for Somalia

Ahmed Abdisalam Adan, deputy prime minister and minister of information of the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) from 2008 to 2009, has written a thoughtful analysis of the political transition process in Somalia.

He then proposes ideas for moving forward that include:

1. legitimacy and ownership of the political process;
2. security improvement linked to political progress;
3. bottom-up approach to peace and state building. This section includes:
1. localized community level reconciliation;
2. building security at the community level;
3. local administrations; and
4. community economic development;
4. strengthening the coordination role of the central state; and
5. Independent monitoring and arbitration mechanism.

Ahmed concludes with specific steps for action. Whether you agree or not with his proposals, this well-crafted paper by the co-founder of HornAfrik Media Inc. is worth reading by all persons interested in the future of Somalia.

Fixing the Transitional Process Final

The paper is also linked on the popular Somali website Hiiraan.com.